Virtual universes (VUs) are rapidly becoming a popular part of today's culture. In general, a VU is a digital world such as Second Life (Second Life is a trademark of Linden Research, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries), characterized by user(s) controlling avatar(s) representing the user(s) as they interact with each other and the environment within the VU. An avatar is a graphical representation the user selects that others can see, often taking the form of a cartoon-like human or other figure. An agent is the user's account, upon which the user can build an avatar, and which is tied to the inventory of assets the user owns. A region is a virtual area of land within the VU, typically residing on a server's CPU. Assets, avatar(s), the environment, and anything visual comprise universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) (tied to geometric data distributed to user(s) as textual coordinates), textures (distributed to user(s) as graphics files), and effects data (rendered by the user's client according to the user's preference(s) and user's device capabilities).
Second Life and other on-line virtual environments present a tremendous new outlet for both structured and unstructured virtual collaboration, gaming and exploration, as well as real-life simulations in virtual spaces. These activities, along with yet to be disclosed new dimensions, in turn provide a wide open arena for creative and new advertising methods and mechanisms. Currently, an agent's inventory is disconnected from the user's real world interests and desires. As such, there is no existing approach that allows advertisers and the like to fully leverage the information and client base of the VUs. In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a solution that solves such problems.